Air-heating fireplace



Oct. 6, 1942. E. T. KELLEY ET AL 2,297,776

AIR HEATING FIREPLACE Filed April l, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet l l 5&5 f; s

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2O "i if 26 /3 l fr' E. T. KELLEY ET AL Oct. 6, 1942.

` AIR HEATING FIREPLACE Filed April 1, 1941 2 Sheetg-Sheet 2 Edward/fedewww Patented Oct. 6, 1942 UNITED STATES l PATENT OFFICE AIR-HEATINGFIREPLACE Edward T.

Kelley and Guy F. Fenton,

Clearfield, Pa.

6 Claims.

tail relates to an air-heating fireplace found to have exceptionaladvantages in manufacture, installation and service. It has beenpreviously found that the space immediately around the walls of afireplace may be utilized as passageways for indirectly heatingcurrents' of air.

It is an object of our invention to produce a fireplace built. up fromsections of hollow fire clay, iron, steely terra cotta or otherfire-resistant materials. Such sections may be designed for interttingassembly and may permit the construction of a fireplace having varyingdimensions. vThus the width of the fireplace may be varied by Change inthe rear sections only and the depth of the fireplace may be varied bythe replacement of side sections by larger ones.

The intertting character of the sections permits the ready replacementwith a new section of any which may have become unserviceable.

A further object of our invention is to construct the fireplace ofplastic material such as `fire clay or the like which will haveinherently poor conduction of heat. In this way the fireplace may beassembled in the structure of the house with less protection required.against the risk of overheating than would be the case if the materialwere metallic or a similar good conductor of heat.

A'n additional object of our invention is to improve the manner in whichcurrents of heated air are created for warming the room apart from theradiation from the front of the fireplace.

An incidental object of the invention is to separate the airpassagewaysof the two 'sides of the fireplace so `that the heating effect on feachside will be separate from that on the other side. Thus the delivery ofheated air will necessarily occur on the side in which the air isreceived. Also it will permit adjustment of the amount of heated air byclosing the passageways on oneside only thus making the air passagewayson that side into dead air spaces.

The particular arrangement of the air passageways is such as to bailleor retard the flow of air being heated so that its absorption of heatduring the travel through the device will be increased.

In the construction of the'individual sections of our fireplace, extrastrength is obtained by the walls of the passageways as reinforcements.

so that it will Aconform to the smoke box' above without the necessityof further adjustment.

Other and further objects of our invention will be evident from thedetailed description which follows of our preferred embodiment in whichFig. 1 is a perspective View of the fireplace with parts broken away;

Fig. 2 is a plan view o f the rear base member;

Fig. 3 is a front elevation of the same with parts broken away on, theline 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a plan view of the rear top member;

Fig. 5 is a front elevation of the same partly in section on the line'5-5 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a vertical cross-section on the line 6-6 of Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 is a front elevation of the left base member and Fig. 8 is avfront elevation of the left top section. ,i

We have found that it is feasible to construct our fireplace entirelyfrom ceramic material Note is made that the assembled fireplace hasaccurate measurements.

such as i'lre clayy terra cotta or similar compositions.

These have the advantages of being fire-resistant and also are approvedbuilding materials for surrounding flues and the like. By constructingthe several sections of our fireplace in this manner, they can beindividually cast or molded and separately fired. They can be given Thusthey may be fit-1A tedtogether and cemented to form a unitaryself-sustaining fireplace. v

Referring to Fig. l it will be noted that the structure comprises alower back section I I upon which an upper back section I2 rests. Lowerside sections I3 and I4 extend forwardly from the left and rightrespectively of the lower base section Il. A suitable angle between thefront walls of the section is selected and this determines the shape ofthe intertting edges of the passageways and also that the passagewaysWill vent only through the exit or outlet ports.

The customary damper will be pivoted across the top of the upper sidesections I5 and I6 in front of the upper back section I2.

A smoke box preferably in the form of a pyramid will rest upon the uppersections I2, i5 and i5 and connect the fireplace to a suitable flue.

The lower back section Il is constructed in the manner shown in Figs.- 2and 3. There is an outer wall I1 and a parallel front wall i8, the endsof'which are rabbeted to receive the Walls of the side sections. The topwall i9 connects the walls I1 and I8 and has its edges sloped'backl atan angle determined by the flare of the side sections I3 and I4. Acorresponding bottom 2B runs from side to side of the section. Centrallythe section has a vertical partition 2I which connects the top, bottomand front and rear walls. Running outwardly from the partition 2i oneach side thereof is a slightly inclined partition 22.

Intermediate the bottom 20 and the partition 22 is a baiile 23 which isinclined upwardly toward the center partition but is spaced therefrom toform a passageway. l

The outer edges of the top, bottom and both partitions are in a commonvertical plane as indicated.

Cooperating with the lower back section are lower side sections I3 andI4. The lower side section I3 is shown in detail in Fig. 7. Here thereis an outer wall 24 and this is cut away to form an inlet port 25 (seeFig. l).

The end Wall 26 extends the full length from the bottom 21 to the top ofthe section. A top 28 is spaced from the end wall 2B to form an outletport 29. The wall 30 extends over the entire front of the section withthe exception of a. small Vertical area at the right which is intended tregister with the open edge of the rear section II. A lower partition 3|extending between the rear wall 24 and the front Wall 30 also intersectsthe end wall 26 above the inlet port 25. At its opposite end it ritsbeyond the baflie 23 of the rear section as shown in Fig. 1.

In like manner an upper baffle 32 extends from the rear edge of thesection I3 forwardly to the outlet port 429. It inclines slightlyupwardly and forms acontinuation of the partition 22 of the rearsection.

The right lower side section is similar to the left lower side sectionjust described with the exception that the arrangement of the ports,partitions and baiiles'is reversed.

The lower rear section II supports an upper rear section I2. The backwall 33 vof the upper section is in the' same vertical plane with theback Wall I1. However, the front wall 34 slopes forward toA formthethroat of the chimney in the usual manner.

The top 35 of the section thus forms a smoke shelf as shown in Fig. 4.

The rear wall 33 is suitably rabbeted at its ends to fit the sidesections. The bottom Wall 36 of the section conforms in shape to the topWall of section I I as shown in Fig. 2.

A vertical central partition 31 extends between the bottom, top, frontand rear walls. i

A baille 38 extends between the front and rear walls onV each side ofthis section inwardly toward the center partition but spaced therefromtoform a passageway. As shown in Fig. 4this baffle is sloped up andback.

Above the baille 38 a partition 39 extends outwardly from the centerpartition 31. The partition 39 is sloped up and forwardly as shown inFig. 5.

The outer ends of top, bottom, baille 38 and partition 39 are in acommon vertical plane sloped backwardly as shown in Fig. 4 in order tont the side of the corresponding upper side sections.

The upper left side section is shown in Fig. 8 to consist oi a verticalouter wall 40 which is cut away atone corner to form the outlet port QI.The top 42 extends over the outlet port 4I and contacts the front end43.

The opposite or rear end is opened while a bottom 44 extends forwardlyto an inlet port 45 reglstering with the outlet port' 29 of the lowerside section.

The front wall 46 ts from the top 42 to he bottom 44 and inwardly fromthe front end 43 to a sloping edge determined by the forward slope ifthe throat or front 34 of the upper rear secion.

A partition 41 slopes to the rear from the front end s3 to the oppositefree edge of the section. Here it contacts with the rear wall'33 of theupper rear section and registers with the edge of the bae 38.

A similar partition 48 extends upwardly and forwardly from the rear freeedge of this section to the corner of the port 4I. A short `Wall 49rises vertically from the front edge of partition 48 to the top 4I. Thepartition 48 registers at its rear with the partition 39 of the upperrear section.

The right upper side section I 6 issimilar to the one just describedwith the exception of the reverse arrangement of the several parts.

Each section of the fireplace is constructed separately by molding,casting or other mode of fabrication. It is then red. This mode ofmanufacture can be done at a central point or may be carried outI at thelocality where it is intended to supply these fireplaces. Risks and highcost of transportation may thus be minimized.

The several sections have intertting portions by which they may beinterchangeably assembled or new sections inserted to take the place ofany others which may become unserviceable. The assembly may be done byrelatively unskilled labor as it requires only the application offurnace cement.' The arrangement and spacing is determined by the formof the sections themselves. A bricklayer can lay it up withoutmeasurements and every piece will immediately lit in its proper place.After the replace is set up and cemented, a brick or stone facing tomatch the room or architecture of the building, can be built around it.

By assembling the lower tier of sections and then mounting the uppertier over them, it is Y* easy to see that all joints are smoke tight.The completed structure is rigid, self-supporting and lso capable ofsupporting the customary smoke Heat from the re will walls of thesections and necting passageways.

pass through the inner heat the air in the con- By reason of the baling,the air on each side of the fireplace is independently heated. The airwill be givenl the maximum amount of heat before it is permitted toescape into the room from the port 4I. However, by blocking either inletport passageways on that side will be closed and vbecome dead airspaces.

The construction of the several sections with the intermediatepartitions and bailles serveslto give added strength and to retain thedesired form through the process of manufacture and ring. 'Ihe addedstrength is a feature of the completed device.

While we have described above in detail the 25, the airy preferred formof our invention, it is to be understoodthat various changes in minordetails including materials, proportions and the like are possibleWithin the scope of the appended claims. What we claim is: 1. A replacecomprising a hollow back with a vertical partition on its center lineand having open ends and transverse baliies extending inwardly therefromto points spaced from the vertical center line of the. back to forminterconnected passageways, upper and lower side sections open on theends adjacent'the back, each side section being cut away at its `base toform an inlet port and being cut away at its upper portion to form anoutlet port and baiiies in said side sec'.-

tions forming passageways connecting said ports with the passageways inthe back.

2. A replace comprising a hollow back having a vertical medianpartition, open ends and hori- 'zontal' baliies forming passagewaysinwardly spaced beneath each inclined partition, upper and lower hollowside sections open on the ends adjacent the back, each side sectionbeing cut awayat its base to form an inlet port and being cutaway at itsupper portion to form an outlet port and partitions in said sidesections defining passageways in s aid side sections connecting saidports with the passageways in the back formed Iby said baiiies andpartitions.

vertical median partition and open ends, an inclined partition extendingfrom each vertical partition to each open end, an inclined baille spacedbeneath each inclined partition, hollow upper and lower side sectionsopen on the ends adjacent the back sections, each side section being cutaway at its base to form an inlet port and .being cut away at its upperportion to form an outlet port and partitions in said side sectionsdefining passageways .in said side sections connecting said ports withthe passageways. in the back formed by said baies and partitions.

5. A replace comprising a. back -formed of superposed upper and lowerhollow sections, each sectionI having avertical median partition andopen ends, an inclined partition extending from each vertical partitionto each open end, 'an inclined baiiie spaced beneatneach inclinedpartition, upper and lower hollow side sections open on the endsadjacent the' back sections, each side section being cut away at itsbase to form an inlet port and' being cut away at its upper portion to.form an outlet portand partitions in said side sections definingpassageways in said side secj tions connecting said ports with thepassageways -formecl in the adjacent back sections by the said baiilesand partitions.

6. A fireplace comprising a hollow back of cerainic nre-resistantmaterial and having openl between the front ports and the passageways inthe back formed by said iirst named partitions and baiiles.

EDWARD T. KELLEY. GUY F. FENTON;

